Study of trivial compiler equivalence on C++ object-oriented mutation operators

Trivial Compiler Equivalence (TCE) has been recently proposed as an effective technique to detect equivalences between programs, where two or more programs are equivalent if the compiler produces the same binary code. Mutation testing can greatly benefit from TCE as a way to reveal some equivalent and duplicate mutants, which traditionally hinder the applicability of the technique. For instance, previous research has shown that about 28% of the mutants generated by traditional mutation operators in C programs can be removed using TCE. However, the effectiveness of TCE has not been assessed with class-level operators, where the percentage of equivalent mutants is known to be higher than when using traditional ones. In this paper, we present an empirical study on the effectiveness of TCE at identifying equivalent and duplicate mutants using C++ class operators. The results show that TCE is helpful to discard equivalent and duplicate mutants: 241 out of 1,987 (12%) in our study, including 189 out of 684 (27.6%) manually-identified equivalent mutants. Large differences were observed among the different case studies, especially in the detection rate of equivalent mutants, which ranged from 4% to 45%

Evaluation of PECAM-1 Gene Polymorphism in Patients with Periodontal Disease and Healthy Individuals

Objective. Our aim in this paper was to investigate the possible genetic association between three Ser563Asn, Leu125Val and Arg670Gly polymorphisms of the PECAM-1 gene and periodontitis. Methods. Genomic DNA was isolated from whole blood of 105 periodontal patient (52 with chronic periodontitis and 53 with aggressive periodontitis) and 101 healthy individuals. Samples were genotyped and analyzed for the three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of PECAM-1 using polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSPs). Results. A statistically significant difference was found between the genotypic distribution of the Ser563Asn polymorphism in patients with periodontitis compared to controls (P = 0.02). But there were no statistically significant difference between the allele frequencies in the different groups (P = 0.05). The other two polymorphisms did not show a statistically significant difference in their allele and genotype frequencies between the groups. There was no statistically significant difference found for any of the polymorphisms allele and genotype distribution in aggressive and chronic periodontitis either. Conclusions. No significant association was found between the polymorphism tested and the subgroups of periodontitis, further research is still necessary to determine whether this polymorphism can be used as a genetic marker of periodontitis

Sodium Channel Gene Mutations in Children with GEFS+ and Dravet Syndrome: A Cross Sectional Study

 How to Cite This Article: Tonekaboni SH, Ebrahimi A, Bakhshandeh Bali MK, Houshmand M, Moghaddasi M, Taghdiri MM, Nasehi MM. Sodium Channel Gene Mutations in Children with GEFS+ and Dravet Syndrome: A Cross Sectional Study. Iran J Child Neurol. 2013 Winter; 7 (1):25-29. Objective Dravet syndrome or severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy (SMEI) is a baleful epileptic encephalopathy that begins in the first year of life. This syndrome specified by febrile seizures followed by intractable epilepsy, disturbed psychomotor development, and ataxia. Clinical similarities between Dravet syndrome and generalized epilepsy with febrile seizure plus (GEFS+) includes occurrence of febrile seizures and joint molecular genetic etiology. Shared features of these two diseases support the idea that these two disorders represent a severity spectrum of the same illness. Nowadays, more than 60 heterozygous pattern SCN1A mutations, which many are de novo mutations, have been detected in Dravet syndrome. Materials & Methods From May 2008 to August 2012, 35 patients who referred to Pediatric Neurology Clinic of Mofid Children Hospital in Tehran were enrolled in this study. Entrance criterion of this study was having equal or more than four criteria for Dravet syndrome. We compared clinical features and genetic findings of the patients diagnosed as Dravet syndrome or GEFS+. Results 35 patients (15 girls and 20 boys) underwent genetic testing. Mean age of them was 7.7 years (a range of 13 months to 15 years). Three criteria that were best evident in SCN1A mutation positive patients are as follows: Normal development before the onset of seizures, onset of seizure before age of one year, and psychomotor retardation after onset of seizures. Our genetic testing showed that 1 of 3 (33.3%) patients with clinical Dravet syndrome and 3 of 20 (15%) patients that diagnosed as GEFS+, had SCN1A mutation. Conclusion In this study, normal development before seizure onset, seizures beginning before age of one year and psychomotor retardation after age of two years are the most significant criteria in SCN1A mutation positive patients.References Dravet C, Bureau M, Oguni H, Fukuyama Y, Cokar O.Severe myoclonic epilepsy in infancy (Dravet syndrome). In: Roger J, Bureau M, Dravet C, Genton P, Tassinari CA, Wolf P, eds. Epileptic Syndromes in Infancy, Childhood and Adolescence, 4th  ed. London: John Libbey Eurotext Publishers; 2005. p. 89-113.Dalla Bernardina B, Colamaria V, Capovilla G, Bondavalli S. Nosological classification of epilepsies in the first three years years of life. Prog Clin Biol Res 1983;124:165-83.Commission on Classification and Terminology of the International League against Epilepsy. Proposal for revised classification of epilepsies and epileptic syndromes. Epilepsia 1989;30:389-99.Scheffer IE, Zhang. YH, Jansen FE, Dibbens L. Dravet syndrome or genetic (generalized) epilepsy with febrile seizures plus? Brain Dev 2009;31(5):394-400.Singh R, Andermann E, Whitehouse WP, Harvey AS, Keene DL, Seni MH, et al. severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy: extended spectrum of GEFS+? Epilepsia 2001;42(7):837-44.Scheffer IE, Harkin LA, Dibbens LM, Mulley JC, Berkovic SF. Neonatal epilepsy syndromes and generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+). Epilepsia 2005;46 Suppl 10:41-7.Harkin LA, McMahon JM, Iona X, Dibbens L, Pelekanos JT, Zuberi SM, et al. The spectrum of SCN1A-related infantile enceptic encephalopathies. Brain 2007;130(Pt 3):843-52.Sun H, Zhang Y, Liang J, Liu X, Ma X, Qin, et al. Seven novel SCN1A mutations in Chinese patients with severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy. Epilepsia 2008;49:1104-7.Miller SA, Dykes DD, polesky HF. A simple salting out procedure  for  extracting  DNA from  human  cucleated Nucleated cells. Nucleic Acids Res 1988;16(3):2115.Marini C, Scheffer IE, Nabbout R, Mei D, Cox K, Dibbens LM, et al. SCN1A duplications and deletions detected in dravet syndrome: implications for molecular diagnosis. Epilepsia 2009; 50(7):1670-8.Striano P, Mancardi MM, Biancheri R, Madia F, Gennaro E, Paravidino R, et al. Brain MRI findings in severe myoclonic epilepsy in infancy and genotype- correlations. Epilepsia 2007;48(6):1092-6.Wang JW, Kurahashi H, Ishii A, Kojima T, Ohfu M, Inoue T, et al. Micro chromosomal deletions involving SCN1A and adjacent genes in severe myoclonic epilepsy in infancy. Epilepsia 2008;49(9):1528-34.Lossin C. A catalog  of  SCN1A variants.  Brain  Dev 2009;31:114-30.Fountain-Capal JK, Holland KD, Gilbert DL, Hallinan BE When should clinicians order genetic testing for Dravet syndrome? Pediatr Neurol 2011;45(5): 319-23. Hattori J, Ouchida M, Ono J, Miyake S, Maniwa S, Mimaki  N,  et  al. A screening  test  for  the  prediction of Dravet syndrome before one year of age. Epilepsia 2008;49(4):626–33.Nabbout R, Gennaro E, Dalla Bernardina B, Dulac O, Madia F, Bertini E, et al. spectrum of SCN1A mutations severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy. Neurology 2003;60(12):1961-7.Ohmori I, Ouchida M, Ohtsuka, Y oka E, Shimizu K. Significant correlation  of  The  SCN1A mutations  and severe myoclonic epilepsy in infancy. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2002;295:17-23.Cales. L, Del-favero J, Ceulemans B, Lagae L, Van Broeckhoven C, De jonghe P. De novo mutations in the sodium- chnnel gene SCN1A cause severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy. Am J Hum Genet 2001; 68(8):1327-32.Brunklaus A, Ellis R, Reavey E, Forbes GH, Zuberi SM.Prognostic, clinical and demographic features in SCN1A mutation-positive Dravet syndrome. Brain 2012;135(Pt 8):2329-36.Engel J Jr; International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE).A proposed diagnostic scheme for people with epileptic seizures  and  with  epilepsy:  report  of  the  ILAE Task force  on  Classifications  and  Terminology.  Epilepsia 2001;42(6):796-803.Fujiwara T, Sugawara T, Mazaki-Miyazaki E, Takahashi Y, Fukushima K, Watanabe M, et al. Mutations of sodium channel alpha subunit type 1 (SCN1A) in intractable childhood epilepsies with frequent generalized tonic- clonic seizures. Brain 2003;126:(Pt 3):531-46.Claes L, Ceulemans B, Audenaert D, Smets K, Löfgren A, Del-Favero J. De novo SCN1A mutations are a major cause of severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy. Hum Mutat 2003;21(6):615-21.Lakhan R, Kumari R, Misra UK, Kalita J, Pradhan S, Mittal B. Differential role of sodium channels SCN1A and SCN2A gene polymorphisms with epilepsy and multiple drug resistance in the north Indian population. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2009;68(2):214-20

Four novel ARSA gene mutations with pathogenic impacts on metachromatic leukodystrophy: a bioinformatics approach to predict pathogenic mutations

Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) disorder is a rare lysosomal storage disorder that leads to severe neurological symptoms and an early death. MLD occurs due to the deficiency of enzyme arylsulfatase A (ARSA) in leukocytes, and patients with MLD excrete sulfatide in their urine. In this study, the ARSA gene in 12 non-consanguineous MLD patients and 40 healthy individuals was examined using polymerase chain reaction sequencing. Furthermore, the structural and functional effects of new mutations on ARSA were analyzed using SIFT (sorting intolerant from tolerant), I-Mutant 2, and PolyPhen bioinformatics software. Here, 4 new pathogenic homozygous mutations c.585G>T, c.661T>A, c.849C>G, and c.911A>G were detected. The consequence of this study has extended the genotypic spectrum of MLD patients, paving way to a more effective method for carrier detection and genetic counseling

TCE+: An Extension of the TCE Method for Detecting Equivalent Mutants in Java Programs

International audienceWhile mutation testing is considered to be an effective technique in software testing, there are some impediments to its widespread use in industrial projects. One of these challenges is the equivalent mutant problem, and a line of research is dedicated to proposing new methods for addressing this problem. Trivial Compiler Equivalence (TCE) method is recently introduced as a simple technique that actually relies only on the optimizations made by the compiler. It is shown by empirical studies that employing TCE with the gcc compiler results in a fast and effective technique for detecting equivalent mutants in C programs. However, considering the fact that the Java compilers generally do not perform noticeable optimizations, the question is how effectively does TCE perform on Java programs? In this paper, experimental evaluations are discussed which demonstrate that using TCE technique with javac compiler results in very poor performance. As a result, this paper proposes to use the Java obfuscators as the complementary component, because of the optimizations they make. The experimental evaluations confirm that using TCE with the ProGuard obfuscation tool provides an effective and efficient method for detecting equivalent mutants in Java programs

Study of the protective effect of hydroalcoholic extract microemulsion of Teucrium polium .L against bromobenzene -induced hepatotoxicity in mice

Background : Liver is a major organ of the body, which can be exposed to various chemicals, drugs and many other xenobiotics such as bromobenzene. The aim of this study was to find out the protective effect of hydroalcoholic extract microemulsion of Teucrium polium against hepatotoxicity induced by bromobenzene. Materials and Methods: Animals were divided into eight groups, with ten animals in each group. Group 1-3 received respectively normal saline base of microemulsion and extract microemulsions in dose of 400 mg/kg orally for 10 days. Group 4 received bromobenzene (0.36 ml/kg, ip) only on the 10th day groups 5-8 received extract microemulsions orally in doses of 50, 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg respectively, during 10 days and bromobenzene (0.36 ml/kg, ip) on the 10th day 1 hour after last dose of extract. 24 hours later, the animals were bled and enzymes ALT, AST and ALP were measured. Animal liver was removed for histological studies. Results: The results showed a significant increase in liver enzyme activity by bromobenzene. The treated groups with Teucrium polium showed a significant decrease in liver enzyme activity in doses of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg (P<0.05). Histological observations also confirmed the results. Conclusion: The results revealed that hydroalcoholic extract microemulsion of Teucrium polium has protective effect on liver toxicity induced by bromobenzen

A Novel Space Vector Modulation Scheme for a 10-Switch Converter

Three-level converters have drawn extensive attention due to their ability to deliver high-quality power. High semiconductor count is the main drawback of three-level converters. As a solution to this, a 10-switch converter is presented, that has advantages over both two- and three-level converters, simultaneously, plus it is applicable to a variety of power ranges. However, the switching pattern of 10-switch converter is not as simple as standard three-level converter due to lack of medium vectors. This paper presents a novel space vector modulation (SVM) for a 10-switch converter to reduce total harmonic distortion (THD) and common mode voltage (CMV) of this converter in comparison to prior carrier-based modulation methods. A simplified, low-cost modulation algorithm for the converter is proposed. The designed switching sequence has aimed at a low output THD and enhancement of DC bus voltage utilization. The performance of the proposed SVM is then compared to upgraded sinusoidal PWM. AC power quality and CMV of a 10-switch converter based on two modulation methods are investigated via simulation models. It was validated via simulation and experimental models that the proposed SVM utilized DC bus voltage more efficiently, generated remarkably less THD compared to other methods, and had a lower peak and rms CMV.Peer reviewe

Reviewing the Effect of Religion, Materialism and Demographic Features of the Consumer on Mental Involvement in Fashion Clothing (Case Study: Yazd)

Among the factors that are necessary to facilitate the consumer’s daily life with high mental involvement, fashion clothing is an important and significant factor for many consumers. According to the importance of the subject, this research reviewed the effect of religion, materialism and demographic features of the consumer on mental involvement in fashion clothing among citizens of Yazd. Confirmatory factor analysis method has been applied in analytical statistics of this research to determine the role and position of each one of the research elements by using Amos software. Correlation test has been used in order to review the relations between fashion clothing involvement and its dimensions, and linear regression test in order to determine the effect manner of involvement in fashion clothing and mental knowledge on confidence in fashion decision making. The statistical population includes all the individuals above 20 years old in Yazd City; the sample size was calculated 99 individuals by using Cochran formula. The research results showed that religion and materialism have significant effect on mental involvement in fashion clothing and involvement has a positive and significant effect on fashion decision making confidence. Furthermore, mental involvements in fashion clothing and mental knowledge have a positive and significant effect on fashion decision making confidence and it was specified in the reviewing of the relation between demographic factors (sex, age,…) and the studied variables that the correlation between them was not significant even in the confidence level of 95 percent

The determination of zearalenone levels in wheat flour of bakeries in Khorramabad city by high performance liquid chromatography

Background : Zearalenone is an estrogenic mycotoxin produced by several Fusarium species and is of particular interest because of its widespread occurrence and strong estrogenic effects. Wheat and its flour is amongst the most important food and feeds sources that may become contaminated with zearalenone. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine the zearalenone concentration in wheat flour. Materials and Methods: After extraction of zearalenone from wheat flour samples with extraction solvent acetonitrile - water, toxin purification step was conducted using immunoaffinity columns. Samples were analyzed by HPLC using C18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm ID, 5µm) with a fluorescence detector, mobile phase of acetonitrile-water (3:2 v/v) at flow rate of 1ml/min. Results: Results of the study showed that the level of found zearalenone in 5% of the samples was higher than maximum level of 200 μg/kg. The mean concentration of zearalenone in samples was 54 µg/kg. LOD and LOQ of this method were 3.5 and 10 ng/g respectively. Conclusion: Although the mean concentration of zearalenone in investigated wheat flour samples was lower than the maximum level recommended by the Codex Alimentations, but high incidence of zearalenone in these samples indicates the need for improving storage conditions in order to reduce the incidence and level of zearalenone contamination in sample